Tiger by Ali Murray
TIGER
[panthera tigris]
by Ali
Murray
Description and Ecology
Tigers have a reddish-orange and black striped coat,
which the stripes vary in size, length, and spacing. Under the belly, throat,
and chest, above the eyes, and a spot on the back of each ear, are white. Their
wide necks, large forelegs, and broad shoulders allow them to be successful
when attacking prey with their claws. The tongue has papilla, small round protrusions,
to make eating the meat from the bones of their prey easier. Between 7.5 to 10
inches, Tiger canines are the largest of any cat. Tigers are
endothermic, warm blooded, and have bilateral symmetry. Males are larger than
females, but weigh around 91 to 423 kg and 2 to 4 m long.
Tigers need to kill 50-60 large prey animals per year.
They are opportunistic predators and typically hunt for pigs, deer, birds, fish,
amphibians, rodents, insects, amphibians, reptiles, porcupines, primates, and others. They also can take down animals larger than themselves, like buffalo,
elephants, and rhinos. Tigers are precautious and stealthy night hunters,
ambushing their prey, biting at the back of the neck or the throat for larger
animals. There are no known predators of tigers other than humans. Tigers are
keystone species, regulating herbivore populations which allow plant species to
flourish. Tigers are an “umbrella species”, meaning saving them, will save the
entire ecosystem that depends on them.
Generation
length ranges from 6.5 to 10 years. In captivity, Tigers can live 16 to 26
years, while in the wild, 8 to 10. A lot of adult tigers die from hunting, and
sometimes fatally injured from trying to take down large prey. Some young
tigers may be eaten by older male tigers when leaving their mother’s side.
Geographic
and Population Changes
In 1998, the global population consisted of about 6,000 Tigers. Tigers are currently
found in less than 6% of their historical range: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Nepal, Russia, and Thailand. Geographic range: Tigers were found in
Asia, Turkey, northern Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam,
Cambodia, Malaysia, and Bali. Now they are relatively stable in northeastern
China, Korea, Russia, and parts of India and the Himalayan region. The wide
range of habitats that Tigers are found in are tropical lowland evergreen
forest, monsoonal forest, dry northern forest, scrub oak and birch woodlands,
tall grass jungles, and mangrove swamps. The ability of Tigers to
cope with many climates allow them to live in diverse places, like places with high humidity,
extremely cold climates, and high elevations. Tiger range was 1.5 million square km,
and then about 1.1 million square km, and now 42 source sites, only about 90,000 square km. The current estimate population of mature Tigers is 3,159.
There is a continuing decline of mature individuals
and population is severely fragmented. Tiger’s range now depends on the Asian
governments to enable habits for Tigers and to mitigate the human-tiger
interactions.
Cause
of listing and Main threats to its continued existence
The only known predator of Tigers are humans, from poaching
pressure, deforestation and habitat fragmentation. Humans use tigers in zoos as
an attraction, killed for their fur, and use of their parts for traditional
Chinese medicine. In the early 1990s, the poaching of Tigers for
traditional Asian medicine for anti-inflammatory use of their bones was high,
even though it has proved to be more psychologically helpful than physically.
The illegal trade remained, and there were cases of intensive breeding of
Tigers where there 6,000 captive Tigers for medicinal use. The medicinal use
has decreased since China banned Tiger bone in 1993. CITES 2008 stated that Tigers should no longer be bred for their bone use.
Tigers are also poached for their skins, teeth, and claws. People also
kill them for the means of protecting their life and livestock, and then used
in the illegal trade. Each year about 150 Tigers are seized from the illegal
trade, which is only a fraction of the extent of illegal trade of Tigers. Primary
threat is poaching for illegal trade for their skins, bones, meat, and tonics.
Human development in wild areas, causing the transition of forests to
agriculture and silviculture, commercial logging, and human settlement, the
Tiger habitat has significantly decreased. Because of competition with human
hunting subsistence and from domestic livestock, Tiger’s prey base is lowered.
Neighboring communities are unaccepting of Tigers because of their proximity
and resulting attacks on livestock and humans. Many subspecies of
the tiger are critically endangered, and some are extinct.
These efforts are made in hopes to:
Geographic
and Population Changes
In 1998, the global population consisted of about 6,000 Tigers. Tigers are currently
found in less than 6% of their historical range: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Nepal, Russia, and Thailand. Geographic range: Tigers were found in
Asia, Turkey, northern Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam,
Cambodia, Malaysia, and Bali. Now they are relatively stable in northeastern
China, Korea, Russia, and parts of India and the Himalayan region. The wide
range of habitats that Tigers are found in are tropical lowland evergreen
forest, monsoonal forest, dry northern forest, scrub oak and birch woodlands,
tall grass jungles, and mangrove swamps. The ability of Tigers to
cope with many climates allow them to live in diverse places, like places with high humidity,
extremely cold climates, and high elevations. Tiger range was 1.5 million square km,
and then about 1.1 million square km, and now 42 source sites, only about 90,000 square km. The current estimate population of mature Tigers is 3,159.
There is a continuing decline of mature individuals
and population is severely fragmented. Tiger’s range now depends on the Asian
governments to enable habits for Tigers and to mitigate the human-tiger
interactions.
Listing
Date and Type of Listing
Endangered Red List in 2015, under C1 because the
population of mature individuals is predicted to be fewer than 2,500
individuals. The population has declined during the last 14 years by 20%, and
continues to decline. Since 1986, Tigers have been on the Red
List for endangered species.
Cause
of listing and Main threats to its continued existence
The only known predator of Tigers are humans, from poaching
pressure, deforestation and habitat fragmentation. Humans use tigers in zoos as
an attraction, killed for their fur, and use of their parts for traditional
Chinese medicine. In the early 1990s, the poaching of Tigers for
traditional Asian medicine for anti-inflammatory use of their bones was high,
even though it has proved to be more psychologically helpful than physically.
The illegal trade remained, and there were cases of intensive breeding of
Tigers where there 6,000 captive Tigers for medicinal use. The medicinal use
has decreased since China banned Tiger bone in 1993. CITES 2008 stated that Tigers should no longer be bred for their bone use.
Tigers are also poached for their skins, teeth, and claws. People also
kill them for the means of protecting their life and livestock, and then used
in the illegal trade. Each year about 150 Tigers are seized from the illegal
trade, which is only a fraction of the extent of illegal trade of Tigers. Primary
threat is poaching for illegal trade for their skins, bones, meat, and tonics.
Human development in wild areas, causing the transition of forests to
agriculture and silviculture, commercial logging, and human settlement, the
Tiger habitat has significantly decreased. Because of competition with human
hunting subsistence and from domestic livestock, Tiger’s prey base is lowered.
Neighboring communities are unaccepting of Tigers because of their proximity
and resulting attacks on livestock and humans. Many subspecies of
the tiger are critically endangered, and some are extinct.
Description
of Recovery Plan
To double the population of Tigers
by 2022, we need to:
- Efficiently manage, preserve, defend, and improve Tiger habitats by creating critical habitats for tiger conservation lands where development is restricted, connecting the lands between them, and improving security for tigers, the habitat, and their prey.
- Cease poaching, smuggling, and illegal trade of Tigers by strengthening law enforcement, international coordination, agencies to find people who are participating in the trade, and spreading awareness of the endangerment.
- Collaborate in international management and in combating illegal trade through making laws stronger internationally.
- Engage with indigenous and local communities by reducing their proximity and lower human-tiger interaction.
- Increase the success of tiger and habitat management by monitoring tigers and the ecosystem and employing adaptive management practices.
- Study and activate domestic and new funding, including ecotourism and other donor investments.
- Enable tigers to enter their historical range.
These efforts are made in hopes to:- Restore Tiger populations
- Protect and enhance the critical habitats
- Cease wildlife crime
- Spread awareness of the harm so the demand for tiger products decrease
- Involve the community and gain volunteers
- Effectively manage the tiger habitats
- Use an effective amount of money towards tiger and habitat conservation.
What
can you do?
Tx2 Goal: The goal before the Chinese Year of the Tiger in 2022
is to double the world’s tiger population. To do this, the protection needs to
strengthen, connection between conservation areas need to be connected, and the
resources need to be available for them once there are more. For the first time,
numbers of tigers are increasing, as of 2016. Many people are unaware of
this issue, so please tell more people about it! WWF has social media pages which you can
follow and stay updated with what is going on.
Never purchase anything involved with the trade of
endangered species, including Tigers. Commodities may be skins, furs, claws,
teeth, bone wine, meats, medicines, raw or carved ivory, and jewelry, whether
it contains tiger products or another endangered species. Stay aware that our
decisions affect the entire world, including the Tigers. There are ways to fund raise,
donate, and volunteer to help and protect tigers. Finally, you can make an
“adoption” with WWF which gives you an information pack and a stuffed animal,
giving a donation.
Resources
The idea that tigers are currently using less than 6% of their historical range is an alarming statistic. Puts an image in your head of how much the tigers have decreased and how much help they need!
ReplyDelete- Jordan Opet (Group 7)
Your Description and ecology section was very detailed without dragging on, all the facts you chose to put in were very interesting, especially how abundant prey greatly affects the range.
ReplyDelete~Sage Massey
Good job including a lot of information without overwhelming the reader. The pictures and layout help with this as well. Crazy how many tigers are taken by humans every year for the illegal trade. Also like the way you organized your “What you can do” section. Very good information.
ReplyDelete-Perry Nalle
You used the pictures in your blog very well. I loved the amount of detail that you provided in the large amount of information that you provided. Plus, it all was very organized so it was easy to process it all when reading it.
ReplyDelete-Mckenna Moura
You did a great job on this blog! You were super interesting and descriptive in your writing about this topic. I loved your abundance of charts and photos and it just overall added a good visual appeal to your blog. I also really liked how descriptive your "what can you do" section is.
ReplyDelete-Parker Ornellas
There are so many threats to this beautiful wild cat! Thank you for going in detail describing how the tiger is poached for multiple body parts and sold for medicinal use, even being killed as a threat to livestock. I really appreciated your post on this flagship species.
ReplyDelete-Shannon O'Hehir
Your blog was very informative! Tigers is one of the animals that most people know, but lack detailed information about. I thought you provided this information very well and really liked the pie chart that you placed in your blog.
ReplyDelete-Christine Okimura
It was cool seeing how many animals tigers typically hunt because originally I only thought they hunted larger animals. Its neat to see that they are more opportunistic hunters and not selective. Good organization as well- helped to make the information easy to read!
ReplyDelete-Fiona McCallion
Reading information about the Tx2 Goal was really interesting. There was also a lot of detail in the ecology section of your blog, which was very easy to read and informative! The pictures and charts made the blog really engaging as well.
ReplyDelete-Kristen Nagamatsu
You did a great job of including a lot of detail and information without being overwhelming. I really enjoyed reading about the tiger, being a relatively known animal, but also learning so much
ReplyDelete-Bryn Mulligan
Really insightful post! You’ve shared some valuable ideas and inspiration here. I’ve recently published an article on Tadoba Safari that’s ideal for nature lovers—full of useful information. Please check it out!
ReplyDelete